Tandis

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

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Users say
(9)

4 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

Peer through the window of this smart neighbourhood restaurant, and it’s unlikely you’d guess its Persian menu. Contemporary and European in style – and with a long bar at its centre – Tandis can feel pretty soulless on a quiet evening. Still, its upmarket wine bar aesthetic belies some genuinely authentic dishes. Tah dig (essentially crispy rice) covered in ghorm-e sabzi won’t be to everyone’s taste (many find the rice tooth-breaking hard), but it’s nice to see a dish normally reserved for home cooking on a restaurant menu. Stews too are made with care: Iran’s endlessly popular pomegranate-based fesenjan was wonderfully rich, and a bademjan was thick with aubergine and lamb. The chicken kebab made with a ‘special house saffron marinade’, however, was overwhelmingly pungent. A little of the expensive spice goes a long way, and we suspect Tandis is being a touch too generous with its saffron stash. It’s a shame the restaurant isn’t quite as bounteous with its service, which felt stilted and unsmiling on our visit, and entirely lacking in enthusiasm. The slickly turned out staff may suit the decor, but they clash with the hearty nature of Iranian cuisine and the country’s relaxed approach to dining.

Ordered from this place this weekend to give a shot to the Persian cuisine. It turned out to be surprisingly good and quantities where pretty decent. My missus also agreed it was one of the best Persian cuisine takeaways we had ever ordered from and will definitely repeat again.

I love and recommend this place to everyone around me! The best Iranian restaurant in London so far: it's clean, food/price perfect. I would just say one thing if it can help: would be nice to see some Iranian art in the restaurant: 1-2 paintings or photography. Without changing the style or anything. I hope this place would always stay the same in quality, Thank you!!

Terrible food, indifferent service, aggressive front of house.
Went here for diner on a Sunday evening. The restaurant itself, whilst nicely furnished was empty and lacking in ambience. The front of house was indifferent to our arrival and no welcome offered. We started by explaining that we would like to order a few bits and pieces from the hot and cold starter menu and informed the waiter that we’re vegetarian and asked if any dishes could be recommended. The first starter, recommended in Persian, once looked up in the menu, correlated to a chicken starter. Again we reminded him that we don’t eat meat so could he recommend another meat-free starter in its place. Sure. He recommends Tah Dig and confirms its meat free and describes it to us as a crispy rice dish. Interesting. Burnt rice in a savoury brown sauce arrives. Before tucking into it, we once again ask the waiter to confirm that it doesn’t contain meat (Don’t normally do this but at this stage we had little faith in the waiter). Confirmed. After a couple of bites we find small chunks of beef in the sauce. Call the waiter over. No apology, he couldn’t care less. He argues that the dish contains only very small chunks of beef and therefore it is essentially meat free. We send it back, and request it be removed from bill. Another starter of Loobiya arrives. Advertised as borlotti, kidney and butter beans cooked in a homemade sauce, served with olive olive oil and lemon juice this dish is nothing more than lukewarm baked beans. No kidney or butter beans in sight. Our order of Tandis Special Salad arrives. A very mediocre feta salad. Halfway though eating our meal, another almost identical salad arrives. We explain that we only ordered the one. It comes in two parts our waiter explains. Strange. Bill arrives, the salad is listed twice. After asking the waiter to remove the additional salad he grew very agitated and aggressive, started shouting and swearing and grew increasingly threatening. He argued he had already reluctantly removed the Tah Dig from the bill and wouldn’t remove anything else. Even though we didn’t order the salad twice, and it was clearly his mistake he still would not remove the additional salad from the bill. I’ve never in my life been to such an unfriendly and indifferent restaurant. Will never return. Absolutely awful experience.
I don’t normally write restaurant reviews but feel compelled to warn others.

Been here 5 times already and it never disappoints. Every time I have a guest over I bring them here. Not your little canteen/dingy place, but a proper restaurant, with authentic food (gasp) and good value for money (gasp again).
Portions are really good for what you pay, I always leave full. Try any of the Polos, Zereshk polo is amazing, their chicken and lamb is so tender it falls off the fork as you cut it, rice is always aromatic and perfectly cooked. And their starters- the ash soup is lovely, (just add salt) and the Tah Dig Ghormeh Shabzi is to die for, really crispy rice from the bottom of the pan served with a lovely lamb, red beans, and spinach stew on top. Service has always been friendly. It's a pleasurable eating out experience.

Been to this restaurant twice & had one takeaway (in the last 6months). Every time the food is consistently gorgeous: generous portions, good variety of veggie options, perfectly cooked meat, tasty flavours, not greasy.
Food fit for kings, excellent value for money!

On the strength of the Time Out review, we booked a Sunday lunchtime birthday celebration for 8 people, including two vegetarians. We were absoluely delighted. The food was excellent, the atmosphere relaxed, and the service exactly attentive enough.
We asked our waitress to choose a selection of starters for us, and she selected a nicely balanced mixture of yoghurt with cucumber, hummus, and two warm aubergine dips, served with plentiful amounts of Iranian naan bread.
For mains, we chose a wide selection of grills, stews, and vegetarian dishes. Everyone was delighted with their choices. The grilled meats are subtly spiced, the stews combine aromatic and sour flavours. The star of the veggie show was Aloo Esfanaaj, described as "a sweet and sour stew of dried Persian plums, spinach and herbs".
The portions were so generous that we didn't try the puddings (but we will next time), and confined ourselves to coffee.
We didn't stint on the wine (it was a birthday, after all), and the bill came to a very reasonable £27 a head including 12.5% service charge.
I don't often award top marks to a restaurant, but Tandis deserves it. We'll be returning soon.